


Δd/Δt = ?

by Moontyger



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Community: femslash12, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-30
Updated: 2012-11-30
Packaged: 2017-11-19 22:43:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/578417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moontyger/pseuds/Moontyger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rita stops by Estelle's home in Halure for tea and gets a surprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Δd/Δt = ?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [oryx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/oryx/gifts).



“Rita!” Estelle's welcoming smile was brilliant, although Rita only got to see it for a second before she was enveloped in an enthusiastic hug. Rita stood there stiffly for a moment, unsure despite all the times this scene had been repeated, before she closed her eyes, relaxed, and raised her arms to wrap around Estelle.

She liked that Estelle was so physically affectionate with her these days – of course she did. She just still wasn't used to it. Every time she visited, Rita had to adjust to being touched all over again. And Estelle seemed to understand – she took it slow, never pushing too much. She might have given Rita no time to think initially, but now she seemed content to stay there like that, holding her while their breathing slowly synchronized.

Rita leaned closer, lifting herself up onto the balls of her feet to overcome the height difference that seemed likely to remain permanent... and then a sudden thought made her pull sharply backwards instead.

“You knew I was coming, didn't you?” she asked accusingly. “Somebody told you!” And she bet she could guess who had.

But Estelle was shaking her head, still smiling, if not as brightly as before. “I didn't, Rita. No one told me. I just knew you usually visited around this time.”

“Oh.” Rita flushed, a habit she still hadn't managed to break. It was true – she could only go so long before she missed Estelle enough that she made time to stop by Halure – but she hadn't realized she was so predictable.

“Come in. I'll make us some tea and I baked a cake just yesterday.”

Rita followed Estelle inside and shut the door behind her. She watched the former princess bustle around her small kitchen, gathering tea things just as though she'd been doing these things for herself her whole life.

“You're really at home here, aren't you?”

“Hmm?” Estelle paused, a teacup dangling precariously from one finger. “... I suppose I am.” She caught the cup before it fell and placed it on the tea tray carefully. “It's so beautiful here and everyone's so kind.”

“Of course they're kind, Estelle. It's you.” Rita couldn't fathom how anyone could be anything less, not when Estelle herself was never mean to anyone.

“I think I knew I wanted to live here the first time I came here with Yuri.”

Rita made a noncommittal noise, but she couldn't really relate. Location never mattered much to her. As long as it wasn't actively uncomfortable, she didn't care. “I guess it is easier to visit you than if you still lived in the castle.”

“Yes, that's true.” Estelle nodded and picked up the tray, walking slowly so as not to drop it as she carried it to the table. Rita would have offered to help, but she knew better. Estelle always made a point of waiting on her guests herself and would never allow them to lift a finger. She supposed it made a statement, something about this house being truly Estelle's in a way few of the things she had had before were. At least, sometimes she thought that, but she'd never asked. It wasn't the sort of thing you asked someone and even Rita knew that. 

Estelle waited until they were both seated, tea poured and cake sliced, before continuing. “It's better this way. I wouldn't want anything to get in the way of my friends visiting me.”

Rita smirked as she lifted her cup. “Does that mean you wish I visited more often?”

“Now you sound like Yuri.”

“Maybe. I saw him not long ago. I guess even Yuri could rub off on me a little.” Rita paused a moment to drink her tea and try the cake, a recipe she recognized as having come from Yuri as well. “But don't you ever miss it?”

“Traveling, you mean? Sometimes. I was always so excited to see everything, to have adventures of my own instead of reading about other people's.” Estelle sipped tea, looking thoughtful. “But I guess I'm not like the rest of you. I had my adventure and now I'm happy to stay here and write my own books.”

Rita shrugged. “There's a lot of work still to be done. Mana doesn't work like blastia did and there are still monsters out there.”

“I know.” Estelle met her gaze and smiled again. It was a little wistful, but not as much as Rita might have expected, not when she remembered how much Estelle had always enjoyed their travel and the knowledge that they were doing important things and helping people. “And I know there's no one better suited to fix things.”

“Well, of course.” In Rita's opinion, that went without saying. “But no one could do what you do either.”

“Mmm.” It wasn't a protest, but the small sound didn't seem convinced either.

“If you wanted to do something else, you could. Brave Vesperia will always have a place for you.”

“Yuri keeps asking,” Estelle admitted. “Maybe one day I'll be ready for my own adventures again. Or maybe I'll travel around with you and be your research assistant.”

Rita stared a little, trying to imagine it. Estelle in the laboratory. Estelle digging in ruins, covered in dust. Estelle with her in an inn, in a room of their own instead of one shared with everyone else... well. Time enough for those thoughts later.

“Oh! I have something to show you.” Estelle put down her fork and pushed back from the table.

“What is it?” Rita got up, too, gulping the last of her tea before she put the cup down.

“It's not far.” Estelle led the way through her house, down the hall and to a door at the end that Rita didn't remember seeing before.

“What's this?”

“I had someone build it for me. Go ahead, open it.”

The room beyond the door was unmistakably a research laboratory. A surprisingly well-equipped one, too, especially for a backwater like Halure. Rita stopped there, hand frozen on the doorknob, and stared, momentarily speechless.

“It's not done, but I thought you'd want to finish it yourself. I was hoping...” Estelle paused there, fingers twisting together nervously, then took a deep breath and continued. “I was hoping you wouldn't visit here any longer. I know you still have work to do and that it involves a lot of travel, but... I thought you could live here when you weren't busy... Live here with me, I mean.”

“Estelle?”

“Yes?”

“Stop talking.” Rita turned around and grabbed her in a hug as enthusiastic as the one she'd been greeted with, then followed it with a kiss every bit as energetic, devoid of her usual hesitance about non-violent physical contact.

She had never told Estelle how she felt, not in words at least, and Estelle had never said anything either. They'd just kept on like this for three long years, with Rita stopping by every few months and, after the first time, sharing Estelle's bed when she did so. It was a silent understanding, one she'd thought she was content with. After all, Rita's strength had never been words.

But this time, as she separated long enough to twine her fingers with Estelle's, she knew just what to say. “Yes.”


End file.
